


Put The Bass In Your Walk

by sweetnovicane (MissKittyFantastico)



Category: Bandom
Genre: Burlesque, Challenge: Bandom Big Bang, Community: bandombigbang, Drag Queen, F/M, Found Family, Gen, Genderbending, Genderfuck, M/M, performing, self-confidence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-05
Updated: 2010-04-05
Packaged: 2017-10-10 01:07:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/93555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissKittyFantastico/pseuds/sweetnovicane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Greta Salpeter is a recent music school graduate and amateur burlesque singer who gets the idea of becoming a drag queen after being inspired by a Edith Piaf loving queen named Emanuelle. When she's about ready to give up after continuous rejection, she meets a strange performer named Jack Jillian who agrees to help Greta with her dream. Through Jack, she meets the matronly Maya T. Sycamore, a southern diva with a big heart and a lot of connections and the sassy Nueva Herrsey, an up and comer trying to recover from heartbreak. Can they teach Greta the tricks of the trade? Can she help them past their own problems off stage? It's a story about loving yourself, loving others, and loving whatever shade of lipstick you can find in your makeup box.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Wave 1 of Bandom Big Bang 2010.

This was the worst idea Greta had ever had.

It was bad enough that no one had really understood her brief foray into burlesque. Despite the fact she was having fun with it, some of her friends from school still seemed to have this belief that she had become a stripper in some bout of post graduate insanity.

She considered getting new friends.

Besides, it was only a temporary thing until she could find a job. It's not like she planned on being Greta Goldenlocks for the rest of forever.

Greta knew when she saw her that she didn't want to do just burlesque anymore though. She wanted to do something else. Something grand. Something even more over the top.

Her name was Emanuelle Le Petit. She was a drag queen that had been hired to entertain between Victoria's routine to 'Cherry Bomb' that could only be described as "lolita-esque" and Stefani's mini light show after Ashlee had called in sick that night.

Most of the group had been caught up with making sure Stefani didn't electrocute herself when Emanuelle went on, but Greta had found herself entranced with the new performer. She was tall, slender and strode across the stage with much more grace than most biological women Greta had known in her life. She was decked out in a rich green dress and her rich brown hair had been swept up into a tidy up-do. Greta knew that it was most likely a wig, but she really didn't care. Emanuelle could have been bald and Greta still would have been entranced as she lip synched along with Edith Piaf.

As soon as Emanuelle stepped off stage, Greta had made up her mind. She didn't want to just be a part time burlesque performer. She wanted to be a drag queen just like Emanuelle.

"Can you even be a drag queen?" Victoria asked backstage when Greta told her fellow performers her grand new plan. "I mean, you're already a woman!"

Greta was ready to give Victoria an unsure answer, but Stefani chucked one of her earrings at Victoria instead. "Of course she can! You've never heard of a faux queen?"

Victoria tossed the earring back at Stefani, but she ignored it as she sat down next to Greta. "Greta, if you want to be a drag queen, I say go for it. I think you'd be wonderful. Don't you, Victoria?"

Victoria looked over at the two of them. "I don't doubt the talent. I just worry they'll eat her alive. Queens in this city are notorious divas."

"I don't doubt that," Greta said, leaning her head on Stefani's shoulder. "Still, I have to try. I mean, I got experience here. How different could it be?"

Over the next week, Greta learned that it was very different. The various gay bars and drag clubs she sought out didn't seem to care that she had been doing well for herself in the three months she had been working at the Parisian Nights Club. They were either conveniently not hiring new performers or they would straight up tell her that they weren't seeking women to be queens. "We're always looking for Drag Kings if you're interested in that," one owner had told her. Greta considered it, but that's not she wanted to be. She didn't think she'd be very good at being a King anyway.

So here she was at the end of the week, sitting in a dark corner of some performance bar called The Berlin, crying into her cosmo. They weren't hiring anyone either, but Greta figured she'd just buy a drink from them anyway after the week she was having.

This really was the worst idea she had ever had. She made a mental note to never listen to Stefani again, no matter how optimistic she seemed about something.

"Goldielocks, why are you crying?"

Greta looked up at a voice that was talking to her. The voice was a bit husky and the body it belonged to was bound and made up to be masculine. Greta could tell that she was actually a woman as she stood this close to her, but she would have done a double take if she was on stage. Greta figured that was the desired effect. "What did you say?"

"You heard me," the masculinely dressed stranger said as they took a seat across from Greta. "Girls like you don't need be crying during cabaret."

Greta gave the stranger an uneasy grin. "You would be if you had the week I'm having."

The stranger leaned forward. "Try me."

"Seriously?" Greta was a bit surprised that they were willing to listen to her.

"Tell Jack Jillian everything, dear."

"Jack Jillian," Greta repeated. "You're a drag king then?"

Jack shrugged. "I prefer 'performer without gender restrictions'. King, queen, crossdresser, genderfucker, genderbender, he, she, zie... I've been called all of it."

Greta smirked. "Makes me wish all these club owners were as progressive as you."

Jack raised hir painted on eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah," Greta said with a nod. "I mean, I guess that's what I get for getting a half brained idea to attempt to become a drag queen. When I'm...y'know..."

Jack reached over and grabbed Greta's hand. "You didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you?"

Greta was a bit surprised by hir straightforwardness. "Well, I guess I thought I did. I learned how wrong I was though. I mean, it was easier for me to get into doing burlesque at Parisian Nights."

"Did you know somebody who worked there?"

Greta paused. "Well... yeah. Dusty, this girl I was in school with, suggested me for a job opening. Taught me everything she knew too."

"And you didn't think that was going to be any different when you attempted to get into the Drag game?"

Greta opened her mouth, but quickly closed it. Jack had a point. "...Well damn."

Jack flashed her a smile and patted her hand. "Look, Goldielocks, I love the enthusiasm, but no drag club is going to hire you. Well, not yet anyway. Clubs may say they want amateurs, but they want amateurs with a name behind them. A queen or king they know they can trust. Or fear. It's usually fear."

Greta pursed her lips before taking a swig of her cosmo. "Right. And I don't know any drag performers. How am I going to get that?"

Jack drummed hir fingers against the table, a smile playing on hir face. "I just might know someone who can help you out."

Before Greta could answer, a bartender shouted at Jack to get on stage. Zie jumped up, but not before giving Greta a kiss on her hand. "See me backstage after the show. Ask for Amanda."

Jack dropped her hand and rushed to the stage. Waiting for her was a tall man in bright, doll like makeup and a long, ruffly black dress. The man approached the microphone. "Hi. I'm Jill Jackson. This is Jack Jillian. We're going to perform for you lucky little bitches tonight."

The crowd up front clapped. Jack poked Jill in the side and pointed to the opposite side of the room from where Greta was sitting. Jill got what zie meant right away. "And as always, Jack would like to dedicate this to the hot British guy writing in the corner of this dark club."

The room seemed to laugh and a dark figure at the other end just waved at Jack. Greta smiled to herself a little bit as Jill launched into an over the top lip synch to 'Like A Virgin' as Jack kept trying to feel hir up and find a way to take the ruffly black dress off. Jill would just swat hir away and continue.

Even if Jack was lying to her, at least Greta was getting her first smile in a week.  
\-----------------  
When Jack and Jill finished their set, people began milling around the club. Going between tables to chat or going to the bar for more drinks before the next act was supposed to go on. Greta just finished her second drink, paid the waitress, and made a beeline for the backstage door, where a somewhat large female bouncer was standing. "Sorry," she said in a deep, booming voice. "Performers only."

Greta didn't want to upset the bouncer, but she needed to see Jack. "Jack told me to meet him... her... after the show. Said to ask for Amanda?"

The bouncer frowned, but nodded and went behind the door. It seemed like forever until she appeared again and held the door open for Greta. "Go ahead, she's waiting on you."

Greta nodded her thanks as she ducked under the bouncer's arm to the warm dressing room. The door slammed behind her and Greta jumped.

"Is that you, Goldielocks?"

Greta looked up to see a woman with flyaway red hair in a too big The Who shirt sitting at a vanity, drawing on a pattern of swirls where her eyebrows should have been. She smiled at Greta from the mirror. She had Jack's smile. "Jack?"

"Amanda," she said, not looking away from the mirror as she put down the eyeliner she was using to draw her eyebrows on and made a move for the brightly colored eyeshadow. "I'm only Jack when I'm on stage."

Greta moved in closer to where Amanda sat. "It's going to take a while to get used to that."

"It's not as hard as you think," Amanda said, streaking her eye in blue.

Just then, the man Greta knew as Jill popped out from behind the curtain. Instead of the ruffly dress from before, he was dress in a plain black shirt and shorts. "Amanda, have you seen my cellphone?"

Without a word, Amanda picked up the phone sitting near her on the vanity with her free hand. "You let me use it earlier, Brian. Remember?"

The man now known as Brian strode into the room and took the phone from Amanda's hand. He then looked over at Greta and smiled. "Well well, who's your friend?"

Amanda opened her mouth, but then quickly closed it. "You know, I don't think I got her name. I've just been calling her Goldielocks."

Greta rolled her eyes and extended her hand to Brian. "Hi, I'm Greta."

"Good to meet you, Greta," Brian said, shaking her hand. "Any reason Amanda lured you back here?"

"Yeah Brian, make it sound like I'm going to eat the poor girl."

Greta shrugged. "Well, Amanda said she could help me with something. Or Jack said that."

"Jack and Amanda aren't mutually exclusive, Greta," she said, closing her makeup box and pushing back from the vanity. Greta could see the green and blue striped tights she was wearing underneath her skirt. "If I said I'd help you as Jack, I'll help you as Amanda."

Amanda picked up a pair of heels from the other side of the vanity and started to slip them on. Brian looked back and forth between the two. "Well, if you don't mind me asking, what does the girl need help with?"

"She's trying to make the jump from Burlesque to Drag and is failing miserably," Amanda said as she finished putting on her shoes. "Or did I miss something?"

Greta shook her head. "No, that's pretty close. I keep getting turned down because I want to be a queen."

Brian pursed his lips in a look of sympathy. "Well, good luck with that."

"We don't need luck," Amanda said, standing up and walking across the room to grab her jacket and her bag. "We just need Maya to hear her out."

Brian snorted. "You're really taking her to Mama Sycamore?"

"Why not?" Amanda said, slipping on her jacket. "If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't even have this gig with you. Maybe she can help her out."

Greta watched this ping pong back and forth for a minute before she finally interrupted. "Ummm... who's Maya?"

Amanda just smirked as she strode back to the other side of the room and took Greta by the arm to lead her out. "You'll see. I'll see you tomorrow, Brian!"  
Brian waved at Amanda as she pulled Greta out of the room. "Good luck, Goldielocks!"

The door slammed shut behind the two women as they made their way back through the club. Amanda waved at a couple of people near the bar before they made it to the front door and stopped. "Okay, kid. Do you really think you're ready to do this?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really," said Amanda with a slight shrug. With that, she took Greta's arm again and lead her out into the street and into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

The snow was coming down slowly as Amanda dragged Greta behind her through the city streets. Greta wasn't sure how she was keeping up with her as she seemed to practically dance her way down the street as she held onto Greta's hand. "You don't have to hold my hand, you know."

"I know," Amanda said, stopping at a corner before crossing after a lone taxi passed by, still dragging Greta behind her. "I just want to. And before you ask, you can't do anything about it."

Amanda grinned and Greta sighed. She made a mental note to not fight Amanda or Jack. If she ever saw them again beyond tonight, that is.

Finally, Amanda came to a stop in front of a squat little building with a metal door guarded by a male bouncer not that much bigger than the one at The Berlin. The door seemed to thump as the bass inside boomed.

"Hi Zack," Amanda said, waving at him cheerfully.

He smiled as he opened the door for her. Greta could hear music blaring from inside. "You got a date tonight, Amanda?"

She shook her head as she pulled Greta towards the entrance, but not going in just yet. "Not really. She might be Maya's new protégée though."

A laugh escaped Zack's lips. "Nueva won't be happy to hear that."

"Nueva can sit in her corner if it bothers her that much," Amanda said flippantly. She looked over at Greta, squeezing her hand a bit tighter and looking at her reassuringly. "You ready?"

Greta scrunched her nose. "Never."

"Good," Amanda said as she yanked Greta inside the dark doorway. As soon as they were in, she was overcome by the smell of fake fog, making her cough.

Amanda walked in slowly as the door closed behind them. She then drew back a curtain and Greta was hit by streams of bright neon light and the sounds of cat calls and Janet Jackson.

"Greta Goldielocks," Amanda said, leaning closer to let Greta hear, "Welcome to the Cathouse."

Greta stepped beyond the threshold of the curtain and into the smoky club. At the far end, there was a stage that people were clamoring around as a queen danced and lip-syched aggressively to the song pumping through the speakers. She could see the bartenders dancing in the corner of her eye, but she was stuck on the queen on stage. She was tall and slender, with curls that fell to the middle of her back and a little black dress so short, Greta wondered how she wasn't falling out of it.

She hadn't noticed that she had been creeping away from Amanda while she watched this new queen. As the song ended, Greta found herself in the back of the clamoring crowd, cheering for the queen.

A husky voice shouted "I love you, Nueva!" The queen grinned as a stagehand handed her a microphone. "Thank you! I can love you too if you pay me enough!"

The crowd laughed and several bills went flying on stage. Nueva pouted and put a hand on her hip. "Not now! There's no fun if you get excited THIS early."

She then scooped up the money as the crowd catcalled again. A wicked grin grew on her face as she placed the bills down her cleavage. "Okay, okay. I better stop taking up Mama's time."

Some people in the crowd protested, but Nueva shook her head. "Calm down, calm down. Nueva's only going backstage. Now, give a big hand for Maya or I might not come back!"

The crowd protested, then began to cheer. Greta could only watch fascinated as Nueva flipped her hair and looked at the crowd again. "Now that's what I thought. Please welcome your favorite country darling. The Cathouse's one and only Maya T. Sycamore!"

Nueva strode off the stage as some twangy notes began to play over the speakers. A hand slipped through the curtain and pushed the fabric aside. The crowd cheered loudly, but Greta could only feel a gasp escape her throat as the newest queen made her way onto the stage. She stepped into the spotlight, her green eyes sparkling as much as the red sequins on her dress. A red nailed hand gently patted her dark updo as she began to seamlessly lip synch the words to Patsy Cline's 'Crazy'. It may have been in Greta's head, but a hush seemed to fall over the crowd as the queen known as Maya worked them over. Greta could see the heartache playing in her eyes as she pressed her hand to her heart. Before she knew it, the song was over and the crowd was cheering. Some were even waving bills in the air. Maya gently took the bills and blew kisses at the crowd before disappearing back behind the curtain. Greta could feel her heart fluttering in her chest after that. It was the same feeling that Emanuelle La Petit gave her that made her want to be a Drag Queen.

As Nueva stepped back on stage to talk to the crowd, Greta felt a tap on her shoulder. "C'mon, let's go," said Amanda in her ear.

"Where?" Greta asked, turning around to look at her. "Is the show over?"

"Almost. It's just Nueva rambling to get more tips now. We need to catch Maya before she leaves."

Greta knew her eyes had to be widening. "Meet her? Really?"

Amanda rolled her own eyes. "Yes, Goldielocks. This is what this whole trip was about. Now are you gonna wuss out on me now?"

Greta shook her head and let Amanda take her hand and drag her out of the crowd towards the backstage door. In her head, all she could think of was how she was actually going to appeal to Maya. If this week had been rough enough, all the things she could possibly say to her was building up, spinning around and colliding. If she wasn't careful, she was just going to be a tongue tied mess.

"MAYA!"

Amanda's yelling and banging on the backstage door as Madonna began to pump through the speakers brought Greta out of her daze of words. The door creaked open, but Nueva was the one looking out at them. Her eyes went straight to Greta. "Amanda, when did you get a new girlfriend?"

Greta opened her mouth to protest, but nothing seemed to come out. Amanda beat her to the punch. "She's not my girlfriend, Nueva. Let us in to see Maya."

Nueva clicked her tongue, still giving a dirty look to Greta as she said, "She's getting ready to go see Alec. You know how she is about..."

"Goddammit, move!"

Despite the fact Nueva was taller than both of them, Amanda knocked her to the side rather easily as she yanked on Greta's arm. She could hear one of Nueva's heels stomping against the hard floor and a frustrated sigh. "Okay fine! Don't make me the bad guy in this one."

"You do that to yourself," Amanda muttered as she looked around for Maya. She stopped outside a doorway and looked in a small room. Greta could only see a vanity with some wig heads on it, a clothing rack and a red velvet curtain running against the wall. Amanda knocked on the wood of the doorway. "Mama Maya, are you in here?"

"Behind the curtain, darlin'," said a distinctly southern voice. The same red nailed hand from earlier popped out behind the curtain and pointed to the vanity. "Can you get me the blonde wig? Trade you my updo."

Amanda crossed the threshold and gently took a blonde flip wig off the vanity. "A little go go for you, isn't it?"

"It's for Tarentino Night next week at Sapphire," the voice said as it took the wig. "Alec wants to see it and see if it's right for doing Nancy Sinatra."

There were a few seconds of silence before the updo wig was passed back to Amanda. "Thanks, hon."

Amanda placed it on the now empty wig head and checked her makeup in the mirror. "Hey, I...uh...got something I want to propose to you..."

"What, do you and Brian need help with Jack and Jill?"

Greta could see Amanda purse her lips. "Not quite."

Before Amanda could say anything else, Maya appeared from behind the curtain dressed in a paisley sundress and a long jacket over it. She looked over at Greta and flashed her a brilliant smile. "Hey there. You a friend of Amanda's?"

Greta shrank in her place in the doorway as she nodded. "Greta Salpeter. Nice to meet you."

"She's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually," said Amanda, turning away from the mirror. "But maybe she can speak for herself."

Greta tried to shake her head at Amanda, but Maya quickly looked over at her. If that wasn't bad enough, Greta could see Nueva's imposing figure in the corner of her eye. "I...uhhh...well...umm..."

"Spit it out, blondie! Mama Maya doesn't have all night," said Nueva rather loudly, scuffling towards them and taking a spot in the threshold. Greta shrank back even more.

"Nueva Herresy, hush!" Maya said, snapping her fingers at Nueva. "I thought you would have picked up better manners than that by now."

"Why are you letting some little girl Amanda picked up back here anyway? She should just wait out there if she wants to say something to you."

"GABRIEL!"

Greta looked at both Maya and Amanda, who were glaring at Nueva. She looked over at Nueva, who had shrunk back even further than Greta. She reminded her of a kid who had gotten caught drawing on the walls. "Sorry," she muttered before slinking off to the other side of the backstage area.

"We'll talk later," Maya said sternly, looking out behind her before taking Greta's hand and pulling her into the small room. She set her down at the vanity and gently brushed her hair aside. "Okay, Greta, don't mind Nueva and tell me what you wanted to ask."

Greta looked down at the vanity, tapping her fingers against it. "Well...it's silly..."

She felt Amanda's hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. Just ask."

Greta bit her lip, then sucked in a deep breath as she looked up at Maya. She figured she might as well take Nueva's advice. "So I'm the newest burlesque girl at Parisian Nights, right? Well, one night, I saw this queen who made me want to be a drag queen. I've been looking around at clubs all week trying to find a job, but no one will take me. Then I meet Amanda while she's dressed as Jack and she...he...whatever... says that she can help me and after her show. Then she drags me across town to here to meet you and you absolutely blew me away and I'm not sure how I can ask this, so I might as well just say it... Can you please help become a drag queen?"

Maya blinked for a few seconds before she started laughing a little bit. "Is that all you wanted to ask?"

"Well... yeah," Greta said, feeling a bit uneasy.

"Well, that's no reason to be nervous," she said, smiling and carefully kneeling down to Greta's level. "You'd be surprised how many people want to try drag that are too afraid to just try it and ask for help."

"So, you'll help me then?"

Maya nodded. "I'd love nothing more than to teach a faux queen. It's not something for everyone though. We'll have to see if you can handle it."

Greta quirked an eyebrow. "We?"

"Me, Jack and Nueva. We're a family. We can help you, but only if you work for it."

Greta looked between Maya and Amanda, then back in the mirror. Could she see herself as part of their family?

The longer she looked in the mirror at her place between Maya and Amanda, the better and better it seemed.

"I'll do whatever it takes."

Before Maya could say anything, Nueva reappeared in the doorway, dressed in a robe and holding onto a cellphone. "Maya, did you give Alecia my number? Because she just called me wondering where the hell you are."

Maya sighed and squeezed Greta's shoulder. She opened up the drawer of the vanity and pulled out a clutch. "Call her back and tell her I'm leaving now."

Nueva nodded and exited the doorway. Maya opened her clutch and pulled a card out. "Be here at noon tomorrow. We can talk then."

Greta nodded and Maya smiled. She then looked in the mirror to check her makeup and gave Amanda an air kiss before starting to walk out. "Nice to meet you, Greta. See you tomorrow!"

Before Greta could wave goodbye, Maya was out the door. She then looked back down at the card. "Butch?"

"Yeah, it's her real name," Amanda said. "Well, actually, it's Brad, but don't tell her I said that."

Nueva reappeared in the doorway. "So...ladies, what was that about?"

Greta looked over at her and gave her the sweetest smile she could manage. "I...uh...might be joining your family."

Nueva looked up and down at Greta. "I'd ask if you could bind that down, but I've seen bigger girls do it."

She gave an uneasy laugh. She'd had already gotten off on the wrong foot with Nueva for whatever reason and didn't want to make it any worse. "No...I'll be a queen."

Nueva pursed her lips and looked Greta up and down again, then looked at Amanda. "Don't look at me like that, Amanda. You both know she has a long way to go."

With that, she sashayed out of the doorway and Greta looked up at Amanda, who just sighed. "She is right about that."

"I figured," Greta said, sticking the card in her pocket. "But I wasn't lying when I said I'll do whatever it takes."

"Well, I've only known you for a few hours, but I believe you can do it."

"Thanks for the confidence," Greta said with a smile as she stood up. "I just hope I won't let you guys down. Or myself."

Amanda patted Greta's shoulder as they started to walk out of Maya's dressing room. "You better start having confidence with yourself. Otherwise, this is going to suck for everyone involved."


	3. Chapter 3

Greta could hardly sleep that night. She kept having dreams of being on stage and not being able to open her mouth in order to lip synch that would make her wake up. As soon as she would go back to sleep, the dream would get worse. Nueva would cackle at her failure as the crowd booed. A distorted looking Maya would cry and Jack would turn hir back on her entirely.

By the time her alarm went off at 8:45 the next morning, she was more than happy to get out of her dreamworld.

She stayed in the shower as long as she could, ate her breakfast slowly, took her time finding the perfect outfit to wear to meet Maya and called the cab company to pick her up at 11:30. It was only 10:30 by the time she finished and Greta was unsure if she should get there early.

Or if she should go at all. She could easily tell the cab to take her to Victoria and Ashlee's instead.

"You can't let your nerves win," she said quietly to herself in her bathroom mirror as she tried to pick a hairstyle for the third time.

When the cabbie called to let her know he was downstairs, she grabbed her purse and practically bolted out the door to keep herself from having second thoughts. It didn't keep her from shaking from nerves in the cab the whole ride over. The cab driver looked at her with concern. "You alright, sweetheart?"

Greta gave him her best smile. "Nervous over a job interview. Don't worry about me."

He gave her a reassuring smile in the mirror. "Well, best of luck."

She gave him a nod of gratitude before looking back out the window and staring at the scenery going by before the cab pulled to a stop in front of a rather nice high-rise. She quickly paid the cabbie, thanked him and got out. Her watch said 11:55. Taking a deep breath, she walked towards the door and shuffled inside looking for the callbox.

"Can I help you, ma'am," asked a security officer behind his desk.

"Yeah...I'm...um...here to see May- I mean..." She quickly dug out the card to double check the name on it. "Butch Walker. My name is Greta Salpeter."

The security guard didn't seem to care. He just waved her along. "I'll let him know you're here. Just go on up. Floor 25. Room 2507."

Greta nodded. She wasn't going to argue with a bored security guard. She quickly walked to the elevator and punched the button for floor 25. "Why couldn't she live on a lower floor," Greta muttered as she paced back and forth in the elevator.

When it finally came to a stop, Greta slowly stepped out and walked down the hall, looking for 2507. The door seemed imposing when she did find it, but with the hundredth deep breath of the day, she knocked.

"It's open, darlin'!"

Greta raised an eyebrow at the door. She wasn't used to people keeping open doors in this city. It was dangerous and inviting. At least that's what she always understood.

Suddenly, the door cracked open and she jumped back a little. A tall, skinny man in plaid and wayfarers looked down at her. "That means you can come in, Greta."

She stared at the man for a moment before nodding. So this was Butch? "Right... sorry."

The man propped the door open for her and she ducked in. She took a look around the living room decked out with paintings and pictures as he closed the door. It felt warm and cozy, but that could have been the smell coming from the kitchen.

"Take your coat?"

Greta looked back at Butch and nodded. She passed him her purse and began to take her coat off. "You have a nice place here, Ma- I mean Butch."

He smirked as he helped her with her coat. "Thank you. And don't worry about the name thing. You'll get used to it soon enough."

"Amanda said the same thing."

"I bet she did," Butch said as he hung the coat and the purse on the coat rack behind the door. There were a few other coats hanging from the rack. Greta was sure she saw sequins on one of them. "You hungry? I was trying a vegetarian lasagna recipe my mom sent me. I just hope it's edible."

Greta smiled at Butch. She began to notice the tattoos on his forearms, peeking out over his rolled up sleeves. "Yeah, that would be great."

He grinned and walked back into the kitchen as Greta walked into the living room. She looked at all the pictures on the wall and on the shelves. Half of them were of Butch and his friends, filled with colorful tattoos and alcohol. The other half were of Maya and her world, filled with colorful makeup, wigs, and flashy clothes. She giggled at the one of Jack in a suit jacket, tie and bloomers seemingly kicking at Nueva's head. Nueva looked rather unamused in her long coat and cigarette hanging from her mouth. In the middle of the shelf, there was a frame with two pictures. One of Butch, Amanda and who she assumed was Gabriel, the other of Maya, Jack, and Nueva. Both pictures seemed to be missing part of them. Like someone had been ripped out of the edge of the picture...

"Lunch is served! Don't eat too much though. Amanda and Gabe are coming over in a few hours. I need Amanda to try it, at least."

Greta looked towards the kitchen and saw Butch beckoning her with a spatula. "Coming..."

She gave the central pictures one last look before exiting the living room and walking towards the kitchen.  
\------------------  
"I didn't say it was bad," Greta said, taking a spot on the couch as Butch disappeared into his bedroom. "I'm just saying a recipe like that could benefit from something like eggplant or tofu."

"Girl, I cannot cook tofu!" He shouted from his room. "I don't think any of us can!"

"Well, I'm an alright cook. We might be able to make something work."

Butch and Greta had just finished their lunch, where they had discussed life in music school, how they had gotten into burlesque and drag, and their families. Greta was surprised that Butch had such a supportive family considering his drag persona.

"I think my mom and dad sort of knew," Butch said, taking one last bite of his lasagna. "I didn't exactly look at that infamous Farrah poster with lust like most boys. More like 'How the hell do I get that kind of hair?'"

Greta laughed at that. "So having another persona people love? Kind of like being a superhero, huh?"

"An extremely fabulous superhero," he said, grinning as he took his plate to the sink. "One with the power to flawlessly lipsynch Patsy Cline while wearing five inch heels."

Now she was sitting on his couch as he got out his makeup kit from his room. He had taken the chance to put Patsy on the record player. Greta leaned back on the couch and listened to her sweet crooning voice for a few minutes.

"You ready, girl?"

Greta looked up at Butch, who was holding what looked like a black tackle box in his hand. She sighed as she sat back up. "Ready as I will ever be."

He place the box on the coffee table and moved over to the opposite side of the couch. "Darlin', getting painted isn't the worst thing about drag. At least you won't have to use duct tape."

Greta winced a little bit at that thought as Butch opened up the box. He pulled out a couple of bottles of foundation and held them next to her face. "So... tell me about your burlesque persona. What do you do?"

She shrugged as Butch went digging for cosmetic sponge. "Well, my onstage name is Greta Goldenlocks. Despite the fact that Dusty tried to teach me some dancing stuff, I haven't really nailed it yet. So I sing and play piano."

Butch raised an eyebrow at her. "And you want to lipsynch, why?"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No. I do it. It's just sort of a 'if you got it, flaunt it' sort of thing." He shook his head and started applying foundation. "I'm sorry. That was rude. Go on."

"Well, there's this one girl there... Stefani. Before my first night, she told me, 'Greta, with your talents, you need to be bold, brassy, and sassy. Make them think you just stepped out of the golden days of lounge singers.'"

"So are you?"

"It took some time, but I'm getting there. I've made a few boys and girls swoon with some batting of my eyelashes, swinging of my hips, winking and crooning, of course."

"Of course. Jessica Rabbit style?"

"I actually did 'Why Don't You Do Right?' one night."

He smirked a little. "Very nice. What about piano?"

"It's a bit hard to be... 'lounge-y' with an upright piano, but we make it work."

"We?"

"Ever back up an interpretive striptease with Annette Hanshaw?"

"No, but I don't play my guitar on stage."

"You play guitar?"

"We're not talking about me," Butch said, putting down the foundation and reaching for a compact. "We're talking about you. Tell me, Greta, what do you think Drag is about?"

She cocked her head a little before Butch straightened it back out. "Besides dressing as the opposite gender?"

"Besides that."

Greta shrugged. "I'm not really sure."

"It's about being who you want to be," he said as he started powdering blush on her cheeks. "You saw a drag queen that you wanted to be like, right?"

Greta nodded and Butch kept powdering. "Well, that's what it's like. When I was a kid, I desperately wanted to sing like Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn. When I started as a Queen, I got to do that. Well, not sing, but I finally felt like the country diva I wanted to be."

He snapped the compact closed and began fishing for eyeliner and shadow. "Gabe wanted to be Janet Jackson and Jennifer Lopez's love child and Amanda... well, she lives to confuse people's perceptions of the world and she does a damn good job." He finally found a tube of liquid liner and pointed it at Greta. "What I'm trying to say is that you should do what you want. If you like your burlesque persona, stick with it in drag. Just make it bigger, bolder, brassier and sassier. If you're a lounge singer now, be a Vegas headliner. With appropriate hip movements, of course. Now close your eyes. We need to get your eyes done."

Greta closed her eyes and felt the eyeshadow brush pass over her eyelids as she thought about what Butch said. She admitted that she wasn't the most confident person off-stage, but she loved how she felt on stage. If Greta Salpeter was the quiet music school graduate, Greta Goldenlocks was the bold girl just starting to find herself in the world. It was just a question of who she'd be in drag. Would Greta Goldenlocks becoming bigger and better in her new stage life?

"What about my name," she asked as she felt the brush of the liquid liner pass over her eyes.

"Not now," Butch said, his voice sounding like it was in deep concentration. "You need to think about who you're gonna be on stage before you even think of a name." Another sound of fishing before he said, "Open your eyes. Mascara time."

Greta fluttered opened her eyes and watched as Butch pumped the mascara wand. "Look up. With your eyes, not your head."

"You sound like Dusty."

As she looked up at the ceiling, there was a knock on the door. "It's open, guys," Butch said as he moved the wand up and down. The door creaked open and she heard tapping on the floor from two sets of shoes. "Wow, she didn't chicken out," said Amanda's voice. She then craned over into Greta's line of sight. "Hi Goldielocks."

"Stop hovering, Amanda. Either sit down or grab some lunch."

"Oh? Did you make that lasagna?"

Before Butch could answer, one set of shoes was heading towards the kitchen. Another set of shoes stepped closer to her and she saw another face looking down at her. She recognized it as Gabe, but his eyes under his cap didn't seem as joyful as the picture she saw. They seemed sort of analytical. "Not bad, Butch. She doesn't look like a hooker."

"They can't all look like you," Butch muttered. "Now stop hovering."

Gabe disappeared from Greta's line of sight and she heard him move to the other side of the room. "Okay, you can look forward again."

Greta rolled her eyes back forward and blinked a little. "Done yet?"

"Not yet. We need to do your lips. Maybe a bit of glitter."

Greta watched as Butch reached for a thin paintbrush and a couple of tubes of lipstick. "By the way, who was it that inspired you to do all of this? The queen, I mean."

"Her name was Emanuelle," Greta said, feeling a bit dreamy thinking of that performance again. "Emanuelle Le Petit."

A strange quiet fell over the apartment when she said that. Greta looked around between Amanda and Gabe, who seemed to be frozen in place and were looking at each other warily. Greta bit her lip and looked back at Butch. "Is something wrong?"

Butch gave her a brilliant smile. "No, nothing's wrong. Now, hold your lips like this."

He made an 'o' with his mouth and Greta copied. Soon, Butch was placing the brush against the silver and gold tubes of lipstick and gently moving the brush against her lips. Greta knew things couldn't be okay, but she wasn't going to bring it up again. Especially when one of them had control over her future in drag.

When Butch motioned for her to shut her mouth, he reached in the box for a small container of gold glitter and a bag full of q-tips. He opened up the container, dipped one of the q-tips in it, and began dusting it around her eyes.

Amanda appeared behind Butch, looking at Greta's makeup with a smile as she held a small plate in one hand. "You done with her yet?"

"Now I am," said Butch, putting the glitter down. "We can work on the hair some other time."

"I like what you got going with this. What about you, Gabe?"

Greta looked over at Gabe, who was standing up now and looking down at her makeup. "Well, it looks pretty good now that it's done."

"Can I see?"

Butch nodded and reached over into the box. He pulled out a mirror and held it up to Greta. "I know it might seem like a bit much, but what do you think?"

Greta gasped as she took the mirror. Her eyes were shadowed in silver and black with the gold glitter accenting around the edges. The blush he gave her was dark and shimmery and her lips were a mix of silver and gold. "It looks gorgeous!"

"YOU look gorgeous," Amanda said, her grin growing. "Get used to saying that a lot. There's no use in always thinking you're rotten."

"She has a point," Gabe said, reaching over and brushing something off her cheek with his thumb. "The clothes and the makeup aren't the only things that make the queen."

"They have a point," Butch said, reaching over and retouching that part of Greta's cheek. "There's no use in being an un-confident queen. Even in your ugliest clothes and worst makeup, you've got to make it your own. So yeah, like Amanda said, YOU look gorgeous."

Greta looked in the mirror again, just staring at her face and eyes for a very long minute. The longer she looked, the less she felt like Greta and more like someone else. Someone brimming with confidence and ready to take on the world. Even more so than when she slipped into Greta Goldenlocks mode.

In short, she really did feel gorgeous.


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next week, she ended up splitting her time between her lessons with Butch, Gabe and Amanda and trying her best to practice them while performing at the Parisian Nights. There will practical things like Gabe reluctantly teaching her what to do if a wig or a hairpiece began to slip or Butch teaching her the best way to handle fake nails.

Then there was Amanda teaching her how to properly smack someone if they were making her feel uncomfortable. "Just because they tip you doesn't mean they have the right to harass you. You know the old saying 'let good thoughts be your sword and shield'? This also applies to anyone who tries to make you feel inferior."

Of course with lessons, there was homework. Which is where she was now. Butch had called off lessons for the day since all three of them would be busy getting ready for Tarentino Night at Sapphire. "My friend Alecia has been preparing for this night all year," Butch had told her over the phone. "We'll all be going a bit crazy with rehearsals. Still, you should come tonight! See what you can pick up."

The idea of watching all three of them at work on the same stage excited Greta. Definitely more than her current homework. "If you can't start working those heels by tonight, you gotta pay your own cover."

"You'd really do that to your own student," said Greta, hoping that Butch could hear her pout over the phone.

"I wouldn't, but Maya would." He laughed and Greta could imagine him smirking over the phone.

So here she was on the stage of Parisian Nights, trying to strut in six inch heels when the maximum she'd usually wear is three or four inches and struggling a little bit.

Stefani wasn't helping that much either.

"Walk walk, fashion baby..."

Greta stopped and looked over at her. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to give you something to walk to," she said, swinging a leg over the bench of the piano. "Except maybe I should try to do it with the metronome..."

Greta tried to protest, but Stefani reached up and turned on the metronome on low. "Okay, try this again. Walk walk, fashion baby, work it, move that bitch crazy..."

Greta sighed, but began her strut again. Surprisingly, the metronome and Stefani's weird little rhyming did kind of help. She even managed to turn without falling and busting her ass. Stefani clapped for her as she kept her strides going.

Suddenly, her phone began to ring and Greta stopped in her tracks. She quickly pulled it from her pocket and noticed that Butch was calling. She pressed the answer button and put it to her ear. "Yeah?"

"Greta," Butch said loudly over the shouting on the other end, "How quickly can you be at Sapphire?"  
Greta looked strangely at her phone. "Uh...probably 30 minutes if I can catch a cab. Why?"

"Get a costume. Preferably silver. Something that fits on you. We got an emergency."

"What's going on?"

"I'll tell you when you get here. See you soon."

He hung up and Greta was just staring at her phone. She looked over at Stefani, who was looking at her curiously. "Is something wrong?"

"No idea," she said, reaching down, taking her heels off and walking towards the backstage. "But I apparently need a costume."

Stefani stood up and walked with her. "You need help?"

"That would be nice. I'm not sure what fits me in the costume closet. Especially something silver."

"I got you covered," she said, moving in front of her. "I'm sure Ashlee and Victoria won't mind something missing from their things for a night."

"I hope not," Greta said, feeling more worried now than she did earlier. "The last thing I need is them and my drag mama freaking out on me."  
\-------------------  
Greta and Stefani had managed to toss together an outfit pretty quickly. There had been a silver flapper like dress that Ashlee had worn during her pregnancy and Greta tied it off with a black cincher that had been buried in the bottom of one of their costume trunks to make it fit better. She already had the black pumps Butch had given her, so she kept those. She tried to leave it at just that, but Stefani wouldn't let her leave until she handed her a silver hat with black netting around it. "My friend Janelle made me this before she moved to Atlanta," Stefani said before she shut the cab door. "Whatever you're doing, wear it with pride. I'll see you tonight."

As the cab took off, Greta felt her nerves begin to take over again. Was this part of some weird test Butch forgot to mention? Was she even ready for it? Was she overreacting?

The cab pulled in front of Sapphire and before Greta could finish paying the cabbie, the door swung open and Amanda looked inside. "Oh thank god it's you."

The cabbie seemed a bit surprised as he took Greta's money. Mostly because Amanda was wearing facial hair and a wig that reminded Greta of Mia Wallace. Which she figured she was going for. "Do you know this...person?"

"Zie's with me," Greta said, passing her dress bag to Jack and swinging her purse around to grab the hat and heels. "Thank you!"

She hopped out of the cab and onto the curb. Jack stood with hir hip cocked and hir free hand in her pocket. "I'm so sorry for all of this..."

Greta shifted her heels to her other hand. "Just what's going on? Butch hung up on me before I could get it out of him."

Jack raised a brow. "You mean... Oh lord, c'mon."

Zie grabbed Greta's wrist and drug her inside the club. Compared to the Cathouse, Sapphire was expansive and sleek. Over the speakers, a perky female voice was playing and Jill was on stage lip synching to it, wearing just a mini skirt and high boots. Greta wasn't sure if that was hir entire outfit. In the corner, Butch seemed to be in deep conversation with a short blonde woman. Jack whistled at him before letting go. He then turned and looked at Greta with a smile. "Oh good, she's here!"

He rushed over and kissed Greta on the cheek. The woman followed behind him and Butch turned out towards her. "Alecia, this is Greta Salpeter. She's going to be our lifesaver tonight. Greta, this is Alecia Moore, also known as Mr. Alec Pink. She coordinated this whole performance."

Alecia looked Greta up and down. "So, do you know 'Goodnight Moon' by Shivaree?"

Before Greta could answer, Butch laughed. "Of course she does!"

Greta looked at him, eyebrow quirked. "No I don't."

"Okay, she doesn't, but she can learn."

Alecia sighed. "Whatever. Just get it done. I just need to have some words with a certain Miss Biggun."

With that, she turned on her heel and sauntered off. Butch sighed and looked down at Greta. "Oh god, I am so so sorry to do this to you, Greta."

"Do what? Are you making me perform?"

"Was that not obvious," Jack said from behind.

"Again, I'm sorry," Butch said, ignoring Jack entirely. "But everyone else I know is busy tonight and we had an unexpected drop. You're probably the only person who can do it!"

Greta felt her nerves growing again. "Do you really think I'm ready?"

He ran his hand nervously through his hair. "Well... honestly, no, but this is another lesson. Always be prepared to get a call because some queen has a goddamn hissy fit and refuses to show."

Greta felt herself biting her lip again. "Well, what am I gonna do?"

"Everything we've told you so far," Butch said, taking her by the shoulders. "And remember what I told you when I painted you. Go bigger, go bolder. You can win them over!"

"And if you have to," Jack said, moving to the other side of Butch, "bullshit your way through it like you've never bullshitted anything before!"

Butch looked at Jack apprehensively and Greta took a deep breath. "Okay, okay... I can do this."

"Butch!"

The three of them looked up to see Alecia standing by the DJ booth. "What's your new girl's stage name?"

They looked back at each other, a bit worried. They hadn't even thought of a stage name yet. "Uhhhh," said Butch, not really sure what to answer.

"Honey," Greta piped up, remembering a song she had written in school. She wasn't sure if it would be the best name, but it would get her through the night. "It's Honey!"

Alecia looked at her unimpressed. "Just Honey?"

Greta shook her head, still unsure of what her actual drag name was going to be. She had to take Jack's advice to heart somehow though, so she began to juggle everything from music school in her head. "No, no it's not. It's Honey... Ann... Molasses! Honey Ann Molasses!"

Alecia looked at her, then at Butch. Greta noticed his uneasy smile trying to assure Alecia that was the truth. Alecia just rolled her eyes and wrote it down. "Whatever. Get her a copy of the song."

As she walked off, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief. Butch then looked at Greta, smiling again. "Honey Ann Molasses?"

Greta felt embarrassed. "I wrote two songs in school titled 'Honey' and 'Molasses'. It seemed like they would be good for a drag name."

"Well, you're learning how to think on your feet," he said, patting her shoulder. "Plus, I like the name. Let's just see if it fits."  
With that, he walked off to the DJ booth and Jack took Greta by the hand. "C'mon, let's start getting you ready."  
\------------------  
For the next two hours, the only song Greta heard was 'Goodnight Moon'. She almost wanted to hate it, but she had to burn that song in her brain. Before she knew it, she was lip-synching it as a half dressed Gabe helped her into her dress and cinched her up. "Can you breathe?"

"Barely."

"Good," he said, sitting her down in the closest chair and pulling a makeup box closer to the both of them. "If you can breathe easily or not be sore at the end of the night, you must be doing something very fucking wrong. Now, how much of your makeup can you do by yourself?"

"I can do a good portion of it," she said, looking in the mirror and picking out her foundation. "I'm going to need some help with the eyes."

"What about the hair?"

Greta shrugged and picked up the hat Stefani had given her. She slipped it on and adjusted the netting to cover her face. "My friend insisted I wear this."

Gabe put his hand to his face, contemplating what to do. "Well, the hat works. We just can't let your hair stay like this."

With that, he reached in the box to for bobby pins and looped around to stand behind her as he began to pin her hair back. After five minutes, he stopped and looked in the mirror. "Well, how's that?"

"Not bad," said Greta, loosening up a few curly strands to hang down the side of her face. She then placed the hat on her head and looked in the mirror. "Yeah, this'll work. Thanks, Gabe."

He smirked a little bit and moved away from her. "Look, sorry if I've been sort of rough on you. I'm not exactly the...easiest person to get along with."

"It's fine," Greta said, taking the hat off and putting some foundation on a cosmetic sponge. "I mean... I just sort of... walked in. You've probably been working at this for years."

Gabe shrugged. "Not really. You're definitely Maya's type. She's a natural mother type who wants to help people achieve their dreams. I'd be doing god knows what without her. Probably doing drunk lip-synching at a leather bar while half dressed. I've just had a really rough year. Ever since..."

Greta looked up at him curiously. "Ever since what?"

"Oh fuck it," he sighed and started rubbing his neck. "Well, ever since..."

"Honey!" shouted Jack as zie sauntered backstage, wearing a black suit and tie with a white shirt. Greta thought zie looked perfect for tonight. "Your friends left you something!"

Greta turned in her seat. "What?"

Jack then held hir hands out and dropped a pair of long black gloves in Greta's hand. On one of them, there was a note pinned. "'Figured you'd need these. Break a leg. Love, Stefani, Victoria and Ashlee.' Wait... they're all here?"

"Yep," Jack said, "Feeling more nervous?"

"A bit. Nothing like your burlesque friends watching your first drag performance."

"You'll be fine," Jack said, looking in the mirror. Zie groaned. "Shit, my beard is falling off some."

With that, zie was gone again. Greta sighed and looked back at Gabe. "I'm sorry, you were saying?"

Gabe just shook his head. "Fuck it. I'll tell you all about some other time."

Before Greta could say anything, he began to fish through the makeup box, looking for foundation. She didn't protest and just went on with her own makeup. On occasion though, she'd look out the corner of her eye and watch as Gabe started to turn into Nueva.  
\-----------------  
Once the show started, Greta kept bouncing between watching the show and going to the vanity to check her makeup. Until Nueva grabbed her by the arm and planted her by the stage. "Bitch, you are giving me motion sickness. STOP."

If she had just been able to watch the show like she had originally planned, she would have been able to enjoy it so much more. Jack had done an excellent routine to 'Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon' which was soon followed up by her partner in crime Jill doing a routine to the song zie was practicing earlier. Alec said the song was titled 'Chick Habit'. Alec himself, in the meanwhile, had lived up to his drag name and had done an absolutely bombastic routine to 'Stuck In The Middle With You' while pretending to torture a queen named Miami. Greta figured it was him getting his frustrations out from earlier. Nueva even managed to be classier than usual while still being extremely bubbly when she performed 'Longtime Woman'.

Still, to Greta, nothing could compare to Maya marching onstage in a blonde wig and what looked like a torn and damaged wedding dress and lip-synching 'Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)'. Even from the side, Greta could tell that she was making the audience feel her heartbreak. Greta could have lost herself in it so easily if she had been out there. She even swore that she could hear sniffling and a few voices singing along with the song.

Before she knew it, it was over and Maya was making her way off stage. Greta tried to tell her good job, but Maya got a hold of her hand first. "Do you need the mic stand?"

"What?"

"For your performance. Do you need it?!"

"Uhhhh...yeah...sure. I thought I wasn't singing though."

"You're not," Maya said, flagging down the nearest stagehand. "It's all about aesthetics."

Maya quickly told the stagehand to leave the mic and mic stand on stage for Honey Ann and pushed Greta up towards the sidestage. "You're next, darlin'."

"What?! I am?!"

"Yeah, didn't anyone tell you?"

Greta racked her brain for a second, then looked back at Maya. "No!"

Maya groaned. "Another quick lesson. Always know when you're on. If you don't know, ask!"

She gave Greta one last push, making Greta lose her balance on her heels a little bit. She glared at Maya, but she just smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "Good luck!"

"Alright alright, enough story time," Alec said on stage. "Our next performer is making her unofficial debut and is filling in for Miss Erectra Biggun, so please give her an extremely warm Sapphire welcome. Performing 'Goodnight Moon' by Shivaree from _Kill Bill, Vol. 2_, it's Miss Honey Ann Molasses!"

As Alec walked off stage, Greta stepped on and walked slowly towards the mic as the music started. Most people were clapping politely, but she could hear Stefani, Ashlee and Victoria cheering from the back. She wished that she wasn't able to hear them.

Before the words started, Greta took a deep breath and put one of her gloved hands around the base of the mic. Before she knew it, the first line of the song hit her ear and she began to mouth the words. She was still extremely jittery and she wanted nothing better than to just run off stage and not come back until she was more ready to do this, but when the song started, it was like another part of her took over. Someone like Greta Goldenlocks, but this one told her to go bigger.

So she did.

She swayed gently during the song and tried her best to portray a childlike fear, looking around like everything was out to get her. She even took her gloves off and motioned her hands along with some of the lyrics. When it got to the instrumental break during the middle of the song, she swung around the mic stand and managed to get a few cheers and even a tip from a tall woman who winked at her as she handed it over. Greta had to blow her a kiss back as she stood upright and went into the last chorus.

When it got to the end, Greta slowly backed away from the mic, turned and began to slowly sashay off the stage, swinging her hips a bit more whenever the music picked up and stretching her gloves over her head when the song ended. The crowed cheered some and Greta could pick out her three coworkers in the back. She gave a tiny bow and quickly scurried off as Alec walked back on. "Give it up one more time for Honey Ann Molasses! Not bad for her first time, huh?"

Greta could hear the crowd cheering again from where she was, but didn't have time to enjoy it before she was practically tackled by Maya and Jack.

"Oh, they grow up so fast," Maya exclaimed, holding Greta to her artificial breast like a proud mother. She then looked down at her, beaming with pride. "You still have so much work to do, but you did SO well."

"There's hope for you yet, Goldielocks," Jack said, hir face breaking out into that ever contagious smile. "Or should we say... Honey Ann?"

Greta gasped a little, looking between the two. "So, it fits?"

"It fits just fine," Maya said, smiling. "Honey Ann Molasses, you may have a ways to go, but I think you're gonna fit in just fine with this family."

They both surrounded her with a hug and Greta was trying her best not to cry. "Don't make me ruin my makeup, guys."

That made Maya laugh. "She's thinking like a true queen already."

Maya and Jack had to go change for the _Inglourious Basterds_ portion of the show, leaving Greta alone again. She wandered back to the vanity and stared at herself in full makeup and dress. Seeing herself like that, it made her feel good.

No, it made her feel _great_. If who she was for those few minutes on stage was Honey Ann Molasses, she never wanted to go back to being Greta Salpeter or Greta Goldenlocks.

"You did good, kid."

She looked up to see Nueva in the door, her wig tied back into ponytail, drink in one hand and her makeup streaked down her face. It looked like she had been crying. Greta still tried her best to smile. "Thanks Nueva. Are you okay, though? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine," she insisted, taking a drink and sitting down next to Greta at the vanity, reaching for her foundation. "That Nancy Sinatra song Maya did though? It just gets to me. Give me time to redo this and I'll be fine before we go out."

Greta opened her mouth to ask something, but quickly shut it. She figured it wasn't best to barge. Instead, she just reached over and squeezed her shoulder. "I'll keep trying not to cry. We don't need two queens with ruined makeup."

She wasn't sure what kind of reaction that was going to get out of her, so she was relieved when Nueva started laughing. "Amen to that, Honey."


	5. Chapter 5

The next month passed by pretty much without incident.

Well, to Butch, Amanda and Gabe, it did. Greta was sure that being the only girl on a major dress shopping trip, Nueva burning some guy with a cigarette after he tried to accost her, her and Gabe bonding over cheesy movies of all things, and playing piano in Jack and Jill's _Cabaret_ tribute show were pretty big deals to her. To them, it just seemed like a normal part of the life.

Of course, when it came to Greta getting fitted for her first custom made dress, Butch was acting like it was the biggest thing on the planet. It sort of reminded Greta of how her mom acted when she started high school. "Butch, it's just a dress. I could just keep taking stuff from the costume closet at Parisian Nights."

"No way," Butch said, looking over the head of the dressmaker as she measured Greta's waist. "Yeah, putting stuff together out of what you got is all part of the game, but you need at least one thing that's completely yours and that no other queen can borrow."

She sighed as she felt the tape measure move down to her hips. "Can I at least pay for part of this?"

Butch shook his head. "No way, Greta. This is my treat. Besides, I'm getting a discount on this. It's not costing as much as you think."

He gave her a wink and Greta sighed again. She had to admit, it was hard to argue with him or with Maya. They both had that way of winning you over before you could even protest.

Her other life at Parisian Nights continued as usual despite all of this. Well, almost as usual. She hadn't realized it, but her drag training seemed to be crossing over.

"You seem...different on stage," Dusty had said to her one night before their show had started. She had been missing in action from the club recently due to bigger gigs, but now she was back and working as a bartender. "I mean, it's noticeable from the bar, at least."

"No," Victoria said as she painted a lightning bolt over her eye. "It's noticeable from here too. I think the queens are having an effect on her."

Victoria smiled at her and Greta couldn't help but smile back. When she really thought about it, she felt different.

And she felt good.

Which made her feel ecstatic when Butch, Gabe and Amanda said they would come and visit her the next night. "You mean it? All three of you are coming?"

"We'll be there with bells on, darlin'," Butch said over the phone. "Well, I'll be. I don't know about the other two, but I'll dress them up nice if I have to."

This made Greta laugh. "I'll do my best for you guys then."

"Be better than that," Butch said before they hung up. "Anyone can be their best."

Once again, Greta felt nervous as she got ready for her performance that night, but excited as well. It was the first time anyone she knew outside the club had come to see her perform, so she spent a little extra primp and practice time at home. It was already planned for the night that she was going to revive 'Why Don't You Do Right?', but she had to make it extra special. Impress Butch, Amanda and Gabe and make every one else notice that she had changed.

Which meant no kareoke backing track.

"C'mon Stefani," Greta said as she zipped herself into the red satin dress she had purchased on her last excursion with Butch and Gabe. "You're great on piano. You don't have anything going on until the very end anyway and I'm towards the beginning. Just please play it for me."

"I don't know," Stefani said, looking over the sheet music. "I haven't had a lot of time to practice."

Greta just stared at Stefani when she said that. "I have faith in you. Just try it? Please?"

Stefani looked at the sheet music one more time and let out a sigh. "You owe me. You know that."

"I know," she said, slipping on some bright red heels to go with her dress and reaching for one of Ashlee's feather headbands. "I'll be your slave for whatever crazy idea you have next. Just...thanks."

Stefani just smirked. "I like that outfit on you. Simply devilish."

"Exactly what I was going for," Greta replied, a mischievous grin growing on her face. It was good when things went according to plan.  
\---------------  
"Are they here?"

Victoria shot Greta a look as she walked backstage. "I don't know what your drag family looks like, Greta. Are they even in drag tonight?"

Greta paused, racking her brain for a few seconds. Butch never specified if they were. She just assumed that they weren't. Defeated, she just shrugged at Victoria before adding "Well, did you happen to see two very tall persons with one somewhat androgynous one of average height?"

Victoria gave her another look and sighed. "They're about two tables back from the front."

Greta tried her best not to squeal as she leaned over and gave Victoria a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you!"

"Just get ready to go on stage. You should know by now that Katie won't stall for anyone."

As Victoria said that, she heard. "With extra help on piano from our very own Stefani GaGa, please give a warm welcome to our baby, we're very proud of her... Greta Goldenlocks!"

Before Katie could finish, Greta was practically bolting to the side stage. When Katie said her name, her heart grew because she could hear Amanda screaming "Fuck yeah!" from the back of the room. There was a very southern sounding "Hush!" that came after that.

Stefani went on stage first. The suit she was wearing reminded Greta her of something Jack would wear, but the large feathery hat was all her own. As Katie went off, she passed the microphone to Greta as Stefani began playing the first few notes of the song. With a deep breath, Greta sang out _"You had plenty of money in 1922."_

The music paused and Greta took in the crowd cheering. With that, she slowly ascended up the stairs to the stage as the music continued and continued to sing. When she stepped in the spotlight, the crowd went crazy and she soaked it in. She stepped to the edge of the stage and beckoned to one of the men in the front row as she sang. He looked at her like a dear in the headlights, practically dumbstruck. Greta just sang sweetly to him for a few bars, then pushed him away like he was the one she was singing about. The crowd laughed as the man slinked away from the stage, leaving Greta grinning as she sat at the very edge for the end of the song. As Stefani did her final vamp on the piano, Greta crossed her legs and looked up at the ceiling, doing her best to seem sultry and disinterested.

The crowd's eruption seemed to be hint enough that it worked. She tried her best not to smile.

"Wow," Katie's voice said, coming back on over the speakers. "What about that? Give it up one more time for Miss Greta Goldenlocks and Miss Stefani GaGa."

Greta gave a tiny smirk to the room as they cheered. She slid down from her spot and looked around for the trio. When she spotted them, she blew a kiss. Butch pretended to catch it, Amanda swooned and Gabe blew one right back. Once again, she tried her best not to smile, but she had to give them a wink before slinking off to the backstage again.  
\-----------------  
"Has anyone ever told you that you are hot?"

Greta laughed as she hugged Amanda at the backstage curtain. "A few times, yeah."

"Well, you are. Nueva's going to have a run for her money."

"Hey!" Gabe said from behind Amanda. "No one's outdoing Nueva Herrsey, no matter how hot she is."

Butch lowered his glasses a little to stare at Gabe. "Besides everyone ever?"

Greta snickered a little bit at that. "Don't worry, Gabe. Nueva and Honey can split the tips."

"Yeah yeah yeah..."

"Okay, enough chit chat," Butch said to the three of them. "How about we let Honey get her things and then go out for some drinks?"

Greta looked at Butch a bit strangely. "Don't you mean Greta?"

He shrugged, a small grin playing on his face. "The girl on stage tonight may have looked like Greta, but I think I saw Honey through and through."

Greta smiled a little bit. "Just let me get my purse. I can get my street clothes later."

With that, she practically bolted through the curtain, trying her best to contain her glee as she went to grab her purse and her coat from the rack next to the vanity.

"Oh! Greta! Just the woman I wanted to see!"

Greta looked up to see Katie standing with a rather tall woman in a long green behind her. Not just any woman though.

It was Emanuelle Le Petit. The reason she started doing all of this insanity. She couldn't help but gasp a little bit, but Emanuelle didn't seem to notice. She still smiled at Greta though.

"Greta," Katie said, motioning to Emanuelle. "This is Emanuelle. You remember her from when she performed here last month?"

Greta could only manage a nod as she extended her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

Emanuelle let out a laugh as she shook Greta's hand. "It's very nice to meet you too. I loved your performance tonight. If you and the other girls are half as good as you all were tonight, I think I'd enjoy working here."

Greta's heart practically stopped when she said that. "I'm sorry? Work here?"

Katie nodded. "We're thinking about putting Emanuelle in our permanent line up."

Once again, Greta tried not to squeal. Instead, she just smiled. "Well, if you decide to make Parisian Nights your home, I'd be thrilled to work with you. I'm on my way out right now though. Spending time with friends tonight. You know."

Quickly, she grabbed her purse and coat and swung the coat on over her shoulders. She hoped it wasn't obvious that she was shaking a bit. She tried to wave goodbye, but Emanuelle followed beside her as she walked to the main room of the club. "Katie says that you've been working with some drag queens lately."

"Umm...yeah," Greta said, looking up at her as she struggled to find the opening of the curtain. "I'm training to be a faux queen."

She found the opening and quickly swung it to the side. Emanuelle still followed her though. "Well, it certainly shows. Have you..."

Emanuelle froze where she was standing, staring up at the trio as they were chatting at the bar. Gabe looked over at that second, his face falling as he looked at Emanuelle. Slowly, the other two noticed, looks of sadness coming across their face. Greta stood there between them, not really sure what to do, until Emaunelle finally spoke up. "Greta? Are these your friends?"

She nodded, not hesitating, but still afraid to speak.

"Are they your drag family?"

She hesitated a bit, but then she nodded. "They are."

Emanuelle just nodded. "Excuse me. I forgot to tell Katie something."

Before she even finished her sentence, she disappeared behind the curtain. Gabe stepped forward a little bit, but stopped and sighed. "I don't feel like going out tonight, guys."

"Gabe," Butch said softly, turning around and trying to reach out for him. "It's okay. We didn't know she was here either."

Gabe didn't say anything and just looked across the room at Greta before looking back at Butch and Amanda. "I'll see you guys later."

The two of them tried to protest, but Gabe was out the front door faster than any of them could say "Don't leave."

Greta said nothing until she heard the front door of the club close. She still wasn't sure what to say, but she had to ask it.

"Do you two mind telling me what just happened? Or...y'know...what's going on?"

Amanda and Butch looked at each other and Butch nervously ran his fingers through his hair. "Greta, there's something we didn't want to tell you. About what happened to Gabe last year... About what happened to us."

Another sigh as he looked at the door, then back at Greta. "Emanuelle Le Petit used to be in our family. Her alter ego, William Beckett, used to be Gabe's boyfriend."  
\-------------------  
"It blindsided us as much as it did Gabe."

Amanda took a shot and motioned for the waiter for another round of drinks. Greta was still nursing her first Cosmo and she had never seen anyone down whiskey as much as Butch was right now. As if the story of Gabe's bitter breakup needed to be forgotten as it was told. "So he just...left?"

"Not just left," Butch said, tracing his finger around his empty glass. "Cut him off. Moved all his things out of their apartment. Changed his phone number, his email, rescheduled every date Emanuelle shared with Nueva. The only way Gabe ever really knew that they had broken up was that lovely Dear John letter he left two weeks after the fact."

Amanda groaned. "That one was a real winner. Bill basically admitted he was too scared to break up with Gabe properly. Okay, you may not love him anymore, but what about cutting someone off entirely makes it hurt less?"

"He still won't talk to him if they're ever in the same room," Butch said, looking over at Greta. "But you saw that pretty clearly."

Greta took another sip of her drink and looked over at the two of them. "But what about you guys? Did William cut you off too?"

Butch nodded. "Pretty much. Everything I paid for Emanuelle gets shipped back to my door without a word. And all the shirts Amanda made for him too."

Amanda grumbled at that and Greta looked at her drink. "Did you guys ever try to reach back out to William?"

Butch looked at Greta with a look she hadn't seen on him yet. One of annoyance. "You don't think we tried? It's hard to talk to somebody who doesn't want to talk to you. It's probably going to be even harder to get to Gabe. He refused to come out of his apartment for nearly a month when it happened. He loved Bill so much. Still does, I think. Even if the first thing he did when he came back from hibernation was rip Bill and Emanuelle out of those pictures on my shelf."

He took another drink and just stared at his glass. Greta reached into her purse, grabbed her cell phone and started texting.

_Gabe, I'm sorry. I didn't know. Please let me know you're ok._

She pressed 'send' and took a long swig of her cosmo. Now it was the waiting game.  
\------------------  
Greta kept trying to get a hold of Gabe through the next week, but he refused to answer any of his texts or any of the calls. Butch and Amanda weren't getting through to him either. It made Greta worried and it seemed to put a damper on their spirits. No lessons happened and Butch and Amanda didn't really call for assistance for anything. She tried her best to perform the same at the club, but it was hard to do when her mind was elsewhere.

The only call she got that wasn't about Gabe's mental state was from Butch towards the end of the week. "Your dress is here," he said, trying his best to sound happy. "It looks gorgeous. You need to try it on though to make sure it fits right. Want to come over?"

"I would have even if you didn't ask," she said, smiling a bit on the other end as she sat in the corner of the club, watching Victoria try out Stefani's new keytar mod. "Want me to bring anything? There's a cupcake shop down the street from the club. Maybe it can pick us up a little bit."

"Don't go spending money on my account."

"Don't try that with me," she said. "You bought me a dress. Let me buy some cupcakes."

She hung up before Butch tried to protest and stood up. "Hey Victoria? Stefani?"

The two looked up from their keytar experimentation. "Yeah Greta?"

"Tell Katie I wasn't feeling too well. That I started getting really sick and wasn't able to call her. You guys can fight out who gets my slot tonight."

She then turned on her heel and walked out the door, leaving Stefani and Victoria to fend for themselves.  
\------------------  
"You think a baker's dozen is okay?"

"As long as you save some for me," Amanda said, her voice sounding perkier than it had for the past week.

Greta laughed a bit as she stood in the elevator. "You'll have to come here first."

"Ehhhh...maybe. Or you could bring them to me. Please?"

"Hmmmmm... I'll think about it."

"Tease."

The elevator dinged and Greta shifted around as she got off. "Amanda, I'll call you back, okay?"

"Think about the cupcakes!"

She rolled her eyes as she hung up her phone and slipped it in her pocket. She held the box in her hands as she walked to Butch's door. She could hear the twangy sounds of a country song coming from behind the door, so she just assumed that it was just the record player as she moved one of her hands around to knock on the door.

No answer.

She knocked again. The music continued, but Butch didn't answer. He didn't even shout to let her know it was open. Was everything okay?

Slowly, she reached down for the knob of the door and jiggled it. It was open. She pushed it further open and walked in, trying her best to be quiet if someone had broken in.

The music got louder as she stepped inside, but it didn't sound like any of the singers Butch had played on the record player. The song sounded familiar, but not the voice.

In fact, it sounded live. Like right in the living room.

Greta peeked around the corner of the foyer and saw that it wasn't a record player, but Butch himself sitting on his couch, strumming a guitar and singing along with what he was playing.

He sounded good too. Really good. Better than Greta would have expected.

She tried her best to quietly close the door behind her to not interrupt him, but it still made noise when it shut. Butch stopped his playing and looked over at Greta, catching her in the act. She felt herself blush as she stood there. "Uh... Hi Butch."

He stared at her like she had done the worst thing possible and that he couldn't understand why she was still at the scene of the crime. "...Hi."

There were a few seconds of awkward silence before Greta held the box out in front of her. "I brought cupcakes."

"How much of that did you hear?"

Greta lowered the box and her head. "Only like a minute. Maybe less. Didn't even realize it was you singing until I walked in. I really liked the song. What was it?"

"'She's Got You' by Patsy Cline. I figured you would have known that by now. Why didn't you knock like you usually do?"

"I did," she said, looking at him wide-eyed. "You didn't hear it! And why are you freaking out? You sound really good! I wouldn't worry about people hearing that."

"It's...complicated. I don't even want to begin to explain."

He stood up, grabbed his guitar and stalked off towards his room. Greta tried to follow him. "But...what about what you told me the first day? 'If you got it, flaunt it'? Why not flaunt that talent? People would love that!"

"No, people will love your voice," he said, turning and blocking her from following him to his room. "I tried the singing thing once. It didn't quite work out for me. You have a halfway decent chance though. Much better than I would have had."

He went off to his room and closed the door behind him. Greta walked to the door, not ready to give up this argument. "But...people love you. They'll love your voice."

"No, people love Maya," he said, moving around in his room. "You should have figured that out by now. You should get used to people loving your persona and not you."

Greta frowned, still looking at the door. "But I love them both."

There was a long silence before Butch opened the door again and looked down at Greta through his wayfarers. "I think you should go now," he said quietly.

Greta opened her mouth, but Butch shut the door on her again. She took that as her sign to retreat, so she did, tears filling her eyes. She never even got to see her dress.

As she shut the apartment door behind her, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Amanda. As soon as the other end picked up, Greta said with a shaky voice, "You can have some of the cupcakes now, if you want."

Amanda said nothing for a few seconds before she said, "Come down to the Berlin. I'll buy you a drink before we open."  
\-------------------  
Greta felt like she was back where she started, except this time there was an open box of cupcakes on her table, she was talking to Amanda and she didn't really have any tears left for her cosmo after sobbing in the cab after paying the driver an extra five bucks to not ask her any questions. And as she tearfully told Amanda what happened. Now she was just pouting as she watched Brian pace around on stage with some bongos.

"I've pissed off my drag mother, haven't I?"

"It's not your fault," Amanda said, taking a cupcake from the box. "Butch just has his own insecurities. Every drag queen does. Give her time to cool off."

"But I didn't really do anything. I just walked in at the wrong time and tried to give him a compliment."

"That'll do it sometimes."

Greta just sighed and put her head in her arms. "How do you do it? You're confident as Amanda and as Jack. Seems like it doesn't go both ways with the rest of us."

"Are you kidding?" Amanda said. Greta looked at her and she continued. "I'm as insecure as the rest of you. Every night I wonder if I'm still good enough for this club. Or if my act is going to fall flat on it's face. I think about every boyfriend or girlfriend I had that said I was weird as fuck and no one would ever think I was cool. I think about the same people who dumped me because they didn't want to be seen with a gender bending performer. The insecurities are there, I just don't keep them at the forefront like you, Gabe and Butch do."

Greta blinked at Amanda when she finished and kept eating the cupcake. She then looked at the door of the club as it opened and a man with dark messy hair walked in. Amanda turned, then turned back, wiping the crumbs from her face. "Oh crap," she said under her breath. "It's hot British guy."

Greta looked at him. He was busy talking to the bartender. She had never really gotten a good look at him before. She just knew he existed in the dark corner of the club. "Him? Really?"

"Don't insult my taste, alright?"

"I wasn't," Greta said, still looking at the guy. "I just don't get how you can talk about not keeping your insecurities on the forefront of your mind, then freak out because some guy you think is hot is standing on the other side of the room. You're like every girl I knew in high school!"

That made Amanda glare a little bit. "I am not."

Greta figured this could easily be her death knell with her drag family, but she had to take what Amanda said to heart somehow. "Then go talk to him! Get a name besides Hot British Guy In The Corner. At least get a chance with someone who likes what you do for a living."

Amanda looked at the guy, then back at Greta. She then sighed and stood up. "Alright... watch me."

Greta watched as Amanda strode over to the bar and tapped the man on the shoulder. She wondered if she would turn back, but was happy to see her extend her hand to the man when she turned around and hear her say, "Hi, I'm Amanda. You usually see me as Jack though."

She would have listened to more of the conversation, but her phone beeped to tell her she got a text. Warily, she reached over to her phone and opened the message.

_meet me at the cathouse tonite? - b_

She stared at the message for a few seconds. What was this going to be? An apology? A kiss off? A public embarrassment?

Greta didn't ask that though. She didn't want to seem like it was bothering her that much. At least not over text.

_be there in 30._

As soon as she hit 'send', she quickly finished off the rest of her drink and grabbed the coat off the back of her chair. "Hey Amanda?"

Amanda and the British Guy stopped their conversation and looked over at her. "I got a weird text from Butch, so I'm going to go meet him. You and uh..."

"Neil is his name," Amanda said, a grin playing on her face. It was her way of saying 'ha! I got it!'

"Right. You and Neil can have the rest of the cupcakes. It would be a romantic first date."

Amanda gave Greta a strange look for saying that, but Greta just rushed out the door and was trying to hail a cab before she was even to the curb.  
\---------------------  
It was strange to see Butch in The Cathouse, leaning against the bar. Maya practically lived there, but Butch seemed like he didn't belong. Greta feared what Butch had to say to her, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. If he told her that she wasn't welcome in the family he had inducted her into, then she was just going have to accept it. If she actually would though, that was suspect.

She was not expected to be rushed with a hug as soon as Butch saw her though.

"Okay, I'm an idiot. You can tell me this. I am so so sorry, Greta."

Greta tried her best to look at the clock over the bar. "You realized this in less than two hours?"

Butch let her go and looked at his watch. "What? You expected me to drag this out longer?"

"Well, yeah. Kind of."

He then looked down at his boots, looking a bit sheepish. "To be honest, I probably would have. I hate people hearing me sing. A lot. But I really shouldn't have reacted the way I did. So I'm saying I'm sorry, Greta. I let my own insecurity get the best of me. And I'm glad I realized it before it was too late."

Greta sighed and reached over to grab Butch's hand. "It's okay. If there's one thing I realized this week is that we're all messed up. I won't bring up what happened if you don't want me too. No harm, no foul."

He smiled a little bit and wrapped his arms around for another hug. "Well, assuming you don't have the cupcakes anymore, you want a drink as a truce?"

"Sure," Greta said, pulling away from the hug. "I'll get Amanda to make up for the cupcakes after she's done with Neil."

Butch lowered his glasses as the turned towards the bar. "Who's Neil?"

"The British guy at Berlin she always dedicates her performances to."

"That guy? She finally got his name?"

"Yeah! Apparently, all it took was me saying she reminded me of every girl I knew in high school."

Greta wasn't sure what kind of reaction she would get out of Butch for that, so she was a bit surprised when he looked impressed. "Greta Salpeter, that is an extremely bold and somewhat catty thing to say. As your drag mother, I am proud."

"Thanks? I think..." She marked it in her head as the weirdest compliment she had ever received.

Butch waved down the bartender and ordered their usual. He then looked back at Greta. "I guess this is as good as time as any to ask, but do you think you make your official official debut next week?"

Greta's eyes widened. "Do you really think I'm ready for it?"

"I think so," he said, taking their drinks from the bartender. "I just want to know if you think you're ready for it."

Greta paused, thinking of everything that had happened between when she first met Maya here and now as she sat with Butch at the bar. A lot had happened and it seemed like it had been longer than almost two months since she had gotten this idea. The idea of getting on stage now scared her, but it also excited her more than it did when she first started. The Greta on Tarentino Night and the Greta now were two different people. The Greta now had gotten to know Honey more and more and she liked who she saw. She wanted that person to be a part of her. She wanted people to meet Honey.

The answer was obvious.

"I am more than ready."

Butch grinned at her and raised his glass. "Well then... To Honey Ann Molasses. By this time next week, she'll be the talk of the town."

"I'll drink to that," Greta said, clinking her glass against Butch's.  
\--------------------  
_Hey, I know this is text no. infinity, but I want to let you know that Honey's debuting next week. Hope I'll see you before then._

Greta hit 'send' as she laid in her bed. It was late and she had pretty much spent the night alternating between drinking and laying down plans with Butch for what they were going to do for her debut as Honey. He even promised to let her try on the dress the next day. Amanda eventually joined them, but it distracted Butch because he kept wanting to know details about the Neil guy. Amanda didn't spill, but Greta could see the smile playing on her face. So instead of talking and planning, they just kept drinking and decided to save it all for the next day. Even with hangovers.

Still, Greta couldn't help but worry about Gabe. He still wasn't answering texts or calls and she just wanted to know he was okay. He could be tough to get along with sometimes, Nueva even more so, but he was still part of the weird little family she was adopted into.

Her phone beeped back at her and she scrambled to check the message.

_awesome. im happy for u. nueva not so much. ;)_

Greta laughed as she stared at the message before typing back.

_Welcome back to Earth. We missed you down here._

'Send'. Silence. Beep.

_missed u guys 2. tell butch ill be there in the afternoon._

"Can do," Greta said silently to herself as she turned over in bed and closed her eyes. She wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or the events of the night, but she slept rather easy that night.


	6. Chapter 6

The next week was completely whirlwind. If she wasn't in Butch's apartment, debating over her song, her hair and every other detail Greta hadn't thought of when it came to just singing on stage at the Cathouse, it was either out shopping for new accessories with the newly returned Gabe or bouncing between the Cathouse, Berlin and Parisian Nights for various reasons. Sometime it was to actually escape from Butch going into what Amanda called 'Super Maya Mama Mode'. "It's when he gets really wound up about something drag related and the lines between Butch and Maya get so blurred that they seem to be one person."

"Just be glad you found us after Christmas," Gabe said quietly as they sat in Berlin, going through the earrings they had bought. "You have many months before you have to watch that shopping meltdown."

The Mama Mode didn't just apply to Butch, but everyone at Parisian Nights the closer the date got.

"You sure you don't need anything," Stefani asked when Greta finally got the confirmation that she wasn't performing that Saturday. In fact, Katie was actually closing the club for the night so they could all see Greta.

"I have most everything, thanks."

"What about makeup," Ashlee had asked, eager to help as well. "Do you need any new makeup?"

Greta tried to politely answer her, but Victoria beat her to the punch. "Guys, she said no! Stop trying to help. She'll be alright!"

"Ummm...thanks Victoria."

Before any of them could say anything else, she ducked out of the backstage and went back to Katie's office and knocked. There was one other thing she needed to ask her for.

Katie looked up from her desk. "What's up, Greta? Is there something else you need for Saturday night? You know we'll be happy to help."

"No no, it's all covered, but thanks. I actually needed something entirely different."

Katie raised an eyebrow. "What do you need?"

"I was actually wondering if you had Emanuelle's number?"  
\-------------------  
It was Friday and most everything had been finalized. Greta agreed to wear a black wig for her first song if she could use her real hair for the other one. Amanda convinced her to do 'Science Fiction (Double Feature)', but her first debut song was going to be 'Why Don't You Do Right?' Gabe and Amanda were unsure, but Butch seemed fine with it. "Well, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. It's not like she's doing it every performance."

Other than that, outfits and lighting were completely picked out. They had practiced in as many places as they could. It was now just a matter of waiting for Saturday night and getting it done.

So getting Butch to leave her be for a lunch date with Gabe seemed perfectly reasonable.

Except Gabe wasn't here in the cafe yet. He wasn't going to arrive for another 5 minutes or so. Greta however, was waiting patiently on someone else.

"Am I too late?"

Greta looked up from the book she had been reading to see a tall, slender man with somewhat long hair looking down at her. She smiled. "No, not at all. You're here just in time. William, right?"

"Yes," he said, gently shaking her hand before sitting down. "I hope it's not weird to see me in street clothes considering...well, you know."

Greta waved a hand. "No, it's fine. In fact, it's something somewhat related to the 'you know' I want to talk about."

William paused, then sighed. "I'm guessing Gabe told you what happened, huh?"

"No, Butch and Amanda did," she said, putting her book down. "I didn't see Gabe for a week after the last time you two saw each other."

William was silent for a few seconds. "I was trying not to hurt him..."

"Well, cutting someone off completely isn't the best way of doing, but I've assumed you've noticed that by now."

Another silence, but Greta didn't let it stay. "Look, I'm not here to point fingers or blame you for anything. I just want you to actually talk to Gabe."

"Greta? William?"

Both of them looked up to see Gabe getting closer to their table. Greta just smiled as she grabbed her purse and stood up. "Oh good, you're here. I was just discussing with William why he should join the group at Parisian Nights, considering my days of employment there might be coming to an end depending on how tomorrow night goes."

Gabe didn't say anything. He just kept looking at William, who was looking at the table. Slowly, Greta moved from where she was stand and made Gabe sit in the chair. Gabe did it without much fight. "Now," she said, looking between them. "I think it would be lovely if you two had a conversation about your relationship."

The two turned to protest, but she quickly shushed them. "I'm not expecting you two to make up. Maybe not even an apology. I just want you to talk, okay?"

They looked at each other, a bit uncertain. "There's nothing to really talk about," Gabe said, looking directly at William.

"Yes there is. If Butch downing three glasses of whiskey while he's telling me about it, there's a lot to talk about. Now, I'm going to leave you two alone to have lunch and talk this out. I'm going to be across the street getting coffee with Amanda. We'll be watching on occasion, so don't try to escape without actually speaking to each other."

Gabe sighed. "When did you become such a bitch?"

"I learned from the best," she said, looking him in the eye before planting a kiss on his cheek. "I'll pay you back for whatever you spend. Just do this for me, okay? I don't want you disappearing for another week because you and your ex can't speak to each other."

Before any of them could say another word, she turned and left the cafe, crossing the street as quickly as she could to swing into the coffee shop and sitting down next to Amanda. "They didn't try to make a quick escape while I was crossing, did they?"

"Nope," she said, taking a drink of her tea and keeping her eyes on the window. "Does Butch even know your doing this?"

"Not at all," she said, drumming her fingers against the table as she watched Gabe and William through the window. It actually looked like they were starting to talk now. "I figure it'll be a surprise, whether it's a good or bad turnout."

"Let's hope it's good. No need to let Butch know one of his protégées died in a cat fight with his ex."

"Do you really expect any less from the brain that spawned Nueva Herrsey?"

Amanda turned her head away from the window for a second to look at Greta. "Okay... point."

For the next hour, Greta and Amanda watched as Gabe and William talked. It was hard to tell what was being said through two panes of glass and a small side street between them, but no one seemed to be yelling, fighting or stomping out to leave, so that was always a plus.

Finally, both of them stood up and hugged each other and William walked out and down the opposite side of the street. Gabe watched him leave, sat back down, then waved his phone at the window. Amanda seemed a bit confused at this. "What's he doing?"

"I think he wants me to call him," Greta said, pulling out her phone and speed dialing Gabe's number. She put the phone to her ear and watched as Gabe did the same on the other side a few seconds later. "Well, how did it go?"

"I just want you to know that you are crazy."

"Probably," she said, looking back at Gabe's stare through the glass. "Now how did it go?"

"It went well," he said, his voice spiked with a tiny bit of hope. "I mean, it's not like we're getting back together, but we're starting to talk again."

Greta smiled. "That's all I wanted."

"Thanks, kid," he said, a smile slowly growing across his face. "You did something good, even if it was sort of dangerous."

"No problem," she said. "You'd do the same for me, right?"

"Of course. What else is family for?"  
\-----------------  
Saturday came with relief, followed by stress. Who was stressed out the most, Greta wasn't sure. Butch seemed to not exist for most of the day as Maya seemed to be dictating most of his actions, trying to make sure everything was exactly according to plan. Not just for Honey, but for everyone else performing. Including herself.

Gabe was still a bit shaken up by the day before, but he still invited William to come. He just hoped it wouldn't make the Butch-Maya amalgamation more berserk than she already was.

Amanda was just worried about impressing the British Guy now known as Neil outside of Berlin.

Greta wasn't sure what kind of stress she was feeling. Every bad dream she had about not being able to open her mouth seemed to replay in her head. She knew all the tips of how to keep going if a heel breaks or dress tears or a wig slips off, but every scenario in her head just ended with her forgetting her lessons and being booed off stage. Greta highly doubt that it would happen, but the fear still existed.

"Greta, you ready to...y'know, start gettin' ready?"

She snapped out of her daydream to see Butch standing over her. Or maybe it was Maya. "You sure I'm ready for tonight?"

Butch's face fell and he sat down next to her in the booth she had been hiding in at the Cathouse. "You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

"No no," she said, looking at him. She didn't want to freak him out any more already. "I'm just jittery, I guess."

Butch sighed and wrapped an arm around Greta. "Darlin', jitters are just fine. If you weren't nervous, I'd be worried. Just remember, no matter what happens, it's only your first night. You got many more performances after this. They won't all be great, but they'll make you great. Just remember that."

Greta looked up at him and nodded. "Okay, I think I'm ready to start getting ready then."

"That's what I like to hear," said Butch, sliding out of the booth and helping Greta down. "C'mon, let's get Honey ready to meet the world."  
\--------------------  
The two hours before the show was the most nervous Greta had been in her life. She could hear the crowd growing from backstage and it made her stomach turn in knots. Most of the time, she wanted to run, but right now, she just wanted time to stop going by so slowly so it could be over with.

"Chill out," Nueva said to her as her and Jack fussed with her hair to make it appropriately Jessica Rabbit like to go with the sparkly black dress Butch had made for her. "It's not gonna go any faster if you keep freaking out. And please don't throw up. I don't wanna do your makeup again."

"You didn't do it the first time!"

"You know what I mean."

"Don't argue with her," Jack said, shaking hir head. "It's only going to make things worse."

Greta groaned and let the two continue to mess with her hair, until finally...

"Yo! Maya! We're done!"

"Let me see!"

Jack helped Greta out of her chair as Maya came rushing out of her room. The outfit Maya was wearing made Greta think 'rodeo', but she insisted that Patsy had worn things like it all the time. Still, she didn't even think of the outfit when she saw the look on Maya's face. "Oh my... you look so good!"

Maya turned her towards the mirror and Greta gasped. She had felt like Honey in the past, but now she could finally see what she looked like. The dress fit perfectly, the makeup was dark and sultry and the hair was made to match.

She looked confident. Alluring.

It made Greta feel the same.

And seeing her family, with Maya in her best Patsy Cline get up, Nueva looking like she just stepped out of the 'Rhythm Nation' video and Jack looking like Prince in his glory days, in the mirror with her, it made her feel like she was being overridden with emotion. "Oh god, I'm gonna cry."

"No! No crying!" Nueva shouted. "If you cry, we're all gonna start crying. We'll save it all for when we're done."

Maya looked over at her. "Oh my God, that is the most sensible thing I've heard you say... ever."

Nueva shrugged. "I'm not as dumb and bitchy as you think I am. I got a heart."

"Yeah... maybe."

"Okay ladies," Jack said. "Go finish getting ready. We have thirty minutes. Save the bickering for the stage."

With that, the two queens huffed a bit and dispersed. Greta was still staring in the mirror, not really believing what she was seeing. Jack propped hir head on her shoulder. "You starting to feel like Honey Ann yet?"

Greta looked in the mirror again, the past two months replaying in her head. It took quite some time to get here, but she did feel like she was a new woman.

"I am," Honey said, smiling back at the reflection in the mirror.  
\-------------------  
"Oh, you guys are too too kind."

The crowd was cheering for Nueva as she finished her routine to 'Rhythm Nation'. Honey watched nervously from her place backstage. The only song between the opener and hers was Maya doing 'She's Got You'. Luckily, Nueva schmoozing up the crowd was always great filler. The happier they were, the harder it was to piss them off.

"Okay, tonight is a very special night. Not only is Mama Maya doing her signature song..."

The crowd cheered loudly.

"Not only have we booked the revolutionary Jack Jillian away from hir usual spot at Berlin."

The crowd cheered some, but Honey giggled at the one British sounding 'woo' in the back somewhere.

"And your other usuals at the Cathouse, of course."

The crowd picked up in their cheering.

"But tonight, we have the official debut of Honey Ann Molasses. She's had a lot of time to cook since Tarentino Night, and boy, she is HOT!"

The crowd cheered again and Honey could pick out her burlesque girls in the back. It put her mind at ease.

"Okay, I'm gonna stop wasting your time now. Let's get this show on the road. Please welcome to the stage, your favorite country diva performing one of her favorite songs ever, Miss Maya T. Sycamore!"

The crowd erupted as the song started over the speakers and Nueva rushed off stage. The song opened and Maya stepped onto the stage from the opposite side, hitting her spotlight right in the center as the vocals started. Honey couldn't see to well from her spot, but she could tell that Maya was giving it her all and then some on this one. Her cowgirl boots tapped against the stage as she channelled Patsy's words about being haunted by a former lover. It almost made Honey cry.

Until she heard it.

The track bumped, the audio skipping a bit. Then skipping a bit more. Honey looked at the ceiling nervously. "No no...don't. Not now."

Her prayer to the audio was in vain though. The track turned to static and the DJ had to cut it off. Honey quickly looked to the stage, looking at Maya just stand there frozen in the spotlight. Honey squeezed her eyes shut and held her hands to her temples. "Do something... please..."

_"I've got your class ring, that proved you cared..."_

Honey opened her eyes and looked up at the stage. She wasn't sure she heard it right, but she had.

Maya was standing in her place, singing the words. She paused for a second to take a deep breath before continuing. _"And it still looks the same as when you gave it, dear."_

A hush had fallen over the crowd. Honey wasn't sure how they were reacting, but she was entranced all the same. She had the power and emotion in her voice. She could deliver it better than any queen who could get up there and lip-synch.

And she didn't even realize it.

_"The only thing different... The only thing new... I've got these little things... And she's got yooooou..."_

As soon as she finished that line, she quickly bowed her head and tried to rush off the stage.

Until the crowd started going crazy.

"Maya Mama, come back here," Nueva said as she walked on stage and rushed to stop Maya from walking off. She grabbed her by the arm and faced her towards the crowd. "Did you guys even KNOW she had pipes like that? Goddamn, you need to break those out more often!"

The crowd went crazy again and Honey could see that Maya was smiling from the angle she was standing at.

"Okay, get out of here. Honey might self destruct if she waits too long."

Nueva pushed Maya's arm and she started off stage and down the stairs. Honey quickly ran to meet her. "Oh my god, that was fantastic. You...you're fantastic!"

There were tears welling up in Maya's eyes and she quickly blinked them back. "Well, I do try. Now don't worry about me, you got a crowd to win over as soon as Nueva stops talking."

Honey grinned and wrapped her arms around Maya. "I love you, Mama Maya."

Maya paused, then wrapped her arms around Honey's waist. "I love you too, Honey Ann." She then let go and pushed Honey towards the stairs to the stage. "Go! Now!"

Honey briefly looked back at Maya before ascending up the stairs. It was now or never. Time to shine.

If Nueva would shut up.

"Okay, hopefully, there will be no audio malfunctions this time, but if there are, it's no problem because our next queen? Wooo... Please welcome to the stage of The Cathouse for the very first time, Miss Honey Ann Molasses!"

Honey could hear her burlesque girls freaking out before she even stepped onto the stage, but when she did, it wasn't just them going crazy. There were catcalls galore before the audio even started.

"Time to shine, Honey," she thought as she flipped her hair back and looked at the crowd. It was time to let them know that Honey Ann was here and she wasn't going anywhere for a very long time.  
\------------------  
"Ugh... I never want to do that again."

"Why not? You have the vocals! Stop being so modest and get some confidence!"

"So says the one who couldn't speak to hir date for nearly a year."

"...I'm hurt, Maya."

"Stop bickering, you two. We know Maya was great even if she doesn't realize it. Jack was great, if not a little strange. And I was great, of course."

"Nueva, you forget someone darlin'?"

"Yeah, I guess Honey did pretty good for her first official time out."

"Good, I was great!"

"Don't let it get to your head, bitch. Not every night's gonna be this good."

"Heh... maybe not for you."

The table made a soft 'oooo' noise and Nueva shot a look at Honey. "Honestly, I don't know where she gets it."

"Not from me," Maya said, a smirk playing on her face.

Jack shook hir head. "That is such bullshit. It's from the both of you, can't you tell?"

"Oh, I am not that bad..."

Honey watched as the three of them went back and forth on this argument, a smile growing on her face as confusion grew on those who joined them at the diner after the show. Well, not for William. He just seemed to be laughing.

"Neil, Stefani," Jack said, pointing at the both of them. "You're somewhat neutral in this. Where do you think Honey gets her attitude from?"

"I'm staying out of this argument," Stefani said, shrugging. "I don't care where Honey got her attitude, I just want to know where she got her moves."

Honey grinned, looking over at her. "I think I could teach you some things."

Jack rolled hir eyes. "Well, I think that part of the discussion just turned into flirting. Okay, Neil. What about you?"

"I think she gets it from you," he said softly with a somewhat mischievous grin.

A silence fell over the table as Jack shook hir head. "I'm not sure if this relationship is going to work. I'm sorry."

The rest of the table laughed at that and Honey looked over at William. "You have an opinion, William?"

"Well, I'd originally be inclined to say you got it from Nueva..."

That got him a look from Nueva. "Baby, I will throw you to the curb before I get my wig off."

William shot her a look right back. "Let me finish. I would be inclined to say you get it from Nueva, but I think you get it from all three of them."

Honey looked back at her family members, grinning. "Well, I think that settles it then."

"Hey hey," Maya said, pointing a finger at William, "Let's not forget that his little brain child had a part in this too."

Honey grinned a little as she rested her chin on her hand. "I guess I was just born to be in this family then."

Maya raised her eyebrows a bit at that answer. "So we'll never be able to get rid of you then?"

"Nope," said Honey, her smile growing wider. "You're stuck with Honey Ann Molasses forever and ever."

This made Maya smile wider than she had all night. "That's an answer I love to hear."

Honey rested her chin in her hands as she watched around the table. Jack and Nueva were bitching to each other about something that happened six months ago at a lesbian bar as their dates just shook their heads while Stefani managed to strike up a conversation with Maya, asking about proper wig care.

If every Saturday night was going to be filled with nerves, love, makeup, costumes, cattiness and some of the best conversations ever ever heard in a diner at two in the morning like this Saturday night had been, becoming a drag queen might go down as one of the best ideas Greta ever had.


End file.
